1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to safety devices having utility in strapping young children to seats. More particularly, it relates to a safety belt means that retains a young child in a shopping cart of the type having a foldable child's seat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Shopping carts are provided with foldable seats to help adult shoppers complete their shopping chores without needing to a hire a baby sitter. Typically, the foldable seat is designed to be folded and stored out of the way when the shopper is not accompanied by a small child.
When the shopper is accompanied by a small child, the seat is unfoldable and the child is seated therein. The back of the seat faces the adult so that the child rides facing the adult pushing the cart, i.e., the child does not face in the direction of shopping cart travel.
Leg openings are provided at the front of the cart so that the child can sit comfortably upon the seat.
The seats are not provided with safety belts. Accordingly, a small warning against leaving the child unattended is usually printed on the seat. Due to the height of the seat and the hardness of a grocery store floor, an active child who is left unattended for even a brief period of time can fall from the seat and suffer injury.
Seat belts in general are of course well known but few safety devices having utility in the environment of a shopping cart seat have been developed.
As more fully set forth in the cross-referenced disclosure, earlier patents to O'Connor, Gehrke, McCarroll-Doull, Voorhees, Smith, Posey, Jr. and Ladd all show earlier harnesses; none of them have specific utility in connection with children and shopping cart seats.
O'Connor discloses a harness device that includes a middle section, shoulder straps and a bottom strap that are connected to one another in a manner different from the present invention.
Gehrke shows a tether strap that connects to a "D" ring, but the "D" ring is not affixed to a shoulder strap piece of the type disclosed herein. Instead, the Gehrke "D" ring encircles a pair of criss-crossing shoulder straps, which type of shoulder straps are not disclosed herein.
The same observation applies to the Smith disclosure.
McCarroll-Doull shows a toy strap.
Posey, Jr. shows the use of straps that at least partially wrap around a chair, but his construction includes no bottom strap.
VELCRO (trademark) hook and loop fastening means, snap fasteners, and padded material, are shown by Posey, Jr., Ladd, and Voorhees, respectively.
A need remains extent for a child safety belt and harness having utility in the environment of a shopping cart foldable seat.